Bali's GIPI pursues foreign tourist market diversification

The Bali chapter of the Indonesian Tourism Industry Association (GIPI) is pursuing a diversification of foreign tourist markets to maintain tourism quality and reduce reliance on a single source country. “Market diversification is an important step towards higher quality and sustainability,” said GIPI Bali Chairman Ida Bagus Agung Partha Adnyana in Denpasar on Monday. International markets showing positive growth trends in tourist arrivals include Japan, Taiwan, and Russia. According to data compiled by Ngurah Rai Immigration, 623,592 foreign tourists visited Bali as of June 2026, a 3.5% increase from 602,944 in the same period of 2025. Australia further cemented its position as the primary market with an 8.5% growth from 148,000 to 161,000 visitors. Other countries in the top ten included India, China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore, South Korea, France, Malaysia, and New Zealand. He added that this condition provides momentum to maintain growing markets while strengthening traditional ones through improved flight connectivity, more targeted promotions, and closer collaboration between the government and the tourism industry. GIPI also emphasised increasing the economic value received by the Balinese people through tourists who stay longer, spend more at local businesses, and participate in activities that add value to the destination. Currently, the measure of quality foreign tourists is not solely based on numbers but also on length of stay, expenditure, equitable distribution of economic benefits to local communities, and destination sustainability. “Bali is not just pursuing growth in visitor numbers, but also tourist quality,” he said. Separately, the Head of the Bali Central Statistics Agency (BPS), Agus Gede Hendrayana Hermawan, explained during a Bali Fiscal Insight event on Tuesday that average foreign tourist spending in Bali during 2025 rose to Rp2.11 million per night, an increase of Rp60,000 from Rp2.05 million in 2024. This figure is higher than the national average foreign tourist spending of Rp2.02 million. However, the increase was influenced by the strengthening of the US dollar, as the exchange rate used to measure tourist spending in Bali changed from Rp15,850 per US dollar in 2024 to Rp16,478 in 2025. BPS also calculated that the average spending per visit for tourists whose main destination was Bali was highest for accommodation at Rp10.18 million, a decrease from Rp10.53 million in 2024. Spending on food and beverages fell to Rp4.92 million from Rp5.51 million, while the largest increase was in entertainment spending, which rose to Rp2.36 million from Rp2.26 million. Meanwhile, the average length of stay for foreign tourists in Bali in 2025 was 12 days, down one night from 13 days in 2024.